I think there is something that exists in Japanese culture that facilitates that. Even though a corpse is seen as something filthy, paradoxically they still see life as existing beyond the body. So during the August Obon festival season, Japanese households do certain rituals to call the spirits back to the household. They present sake, fruits, incense, and other things and for a few days, the spirits are seen to be back with them. And after the few days are over, they return them to heaven and wish them the best in the other world. So I think there's a strong belief in Japanese society at a very deep part that the spirit lives beyond the body.

Also, a few times a year every Japanese family will visit the ancestors' tombs and give offerings. I think it's another evidence that there is continuity between life and death—that the spirits do live on—which is why it is so important for them to see off the departed with so much respect as you see in the ceremony.

What was the most difficult challenge that you had to overcome to film this?

The most difficult challenge was treating death as a theme itself and concerns we had about how the film would turn out and how the film would be received because of the delicate subject matter.

How was the film received in Japan?

Encoffinment is not commonly known in Japan. It's a very niche service that being provided, so most Japanese people learned about the profession of encoffinment for the first time with this film. But I think most of them were able to see in the characters something of themselves and learn that to face death means to be able to reassess one's life and to see the value of living, and I think that moved many people and that's probably what led to the great commercial and critical success of the film.

Now that the film's been shown internationally, were there any parts of the film that you were worried about foreign audiences grasping?

Obviously I didn't make this film with a foreign audience in mind. We were simply fortunate to have the film seen in over sixty countries. Rather than worrying about any aspect of the film, I'm actually looking forward to seeing how the foreign audience responds to the film.

The comic side was perfect. As a director what were some of your challenges in striking this balance?

I think the balance between comedy and the more serious drama was a very difficult challenge. I was careful not to use excessive humor or excessive drama. I'm not interested in manipulating the audience to either laugh or cry. Rather I think often you find humor and comedy simply in characters who are doing something very serious—when somebody delves into a certain task with all the seriousness in the world, the humor or absurdity of the situation sometimes comes out on its own. So I didn't want to force the issue. And I was also careful to make sure that the audience is able to emotionally identify with the protagonist as early as possible, because you're not going to find something funny unless you're in that situation and know that it could happen to anyone. So often you're laughing not at him, but with him as he experienced the different things. In terms of editing, was there a lot that you had to cut out?

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